United Earth Federation
The United Earth Federation (UEF) is a large interstellar confederation and the Home Polity representing the human race throughout the Universe. The UEF was established in 3155 with the passage of the Federal Constitution, succeeding the Earth Empire. The Earth Empire collapsed during what became known as the Dark Time mostly because of the Earthen Government's refusal to decentralize and federalize over its massive territory. The new Federation was much more decentralized than its predecessor and gave its colonies massive amounts of autonomy. Earth, the human race's planet of origin, is the capital of the Federation. Earth is an ecumenopolis, therefore one supermassive city occupies the entirety of the planet's land surface. The UEF's federal government exists in the framework of a unicameral constitutional confederation. The federal government represents the autonomous colonies in matters of interracial policy, maintains a centralized offensive military force (EarthCom), manages the common currency, provides support to all colonies and acts as a forum of cooperation between the various colonies. The federal executive leader is the Chancellor, who administrates federally controlled territory and its affairs, as well as implements federal law. The federal unicameral legislature is the Federal Senate, which consists of one senator from each colony, and is responsible for creating federal law. The Senate's Judicial Committee is the only federal court, and hears appeals from colonial courts. Although officially classified as the human Home Polity by the Galactic Center Classifications Bureau, the UEF has billions of non-human citizens spread throughout its colonies - with many of such colonies home to a non-human majority and government. Citizens are therefore referred to as "Earthen" rather than "human". History The idea of reforming the Earth Empire (which was a heavily centralized federacy) into a more decentralized confederation was suggested by the Henry Irving Institute for Imperial Governance in 2537 when the Earth Empire reached its 1,256th member planet. The federal government was to be a small body of oversight for the various planets' autonomous governments. Support for the idea became more widespread as the Empire's resources were further stretched with each passing year. Uniform policy passed by the central government proved impractical on planets located light years away from Earth, leading to great administrative difficulty. The plan to further decentralize was however defeated in the Earthen Parliament, mainly because opponents claimed that such measures would undermine the frontier wars which were being waged at the time. Such opponents had a controlling majority in Parliament and caused many proponents' home constituents on the frontier worlds to side with them. The decentralization plan was brought up several times in the years and decades thereafter but failed to pass in Parliament continuously. It was in 2540 when what is considered the "decline of the Earth Empire" officially began. The Aeon Illuminate launched a massive offensive on the nine Imperial worlds on its frontiers and made large gains in territory. The attack had been a total surprise for EarthCom and that caused the Aeon to win essentially all the battles it had started that year. The Earth Empire started losing worlds annually and was forced to pull most of its forces from frontier planets back to sector capitals and, of course, the planet Earth. In March 2795, more than two hundred years after the first Aeon assault and constant war, Earth itself was attacked for the first time in history. The battle was a disastrous defeat to the Cybran Nation, which enjoyed temporary support from the Aeon. EarthCom forces were able to crush the incoming Cybran fleets in near totality, with no Cybran troops having made it to the planet's surface. A decade later, the Aeon and Cybrans, having had a brief alliance, declared war upon one another due to territorial disputes on their border worlds and of newly gained Imperial planets. The Empire was able to use this new development to regroup and reconstitute its forces, however was forced to deal with a new problem - widespread rebellion. The war effort had all but emptied Imperial coffers and many dependent planets were increasingly becoming victims to starvation and absolute poverty. This in itself forced the Earthen Government to concede to some decentralization, by allowing planetary governors to act independently in crushing the revolts and bringing about stability once more. Many governors went rogue in the ensuing years, giving in to their populace's demands and declaring independence. Democracy was also a victim to the war which had raged for centuries by this time. In March 2902, the Earthen Government dissolved itself temporarily and gave full government authority to the EarthCom High Command. More worlds were lost to rebellion as a result however EarthCom was now able to coordinate more effectively without all the involved bureaucracy. The tide of war was turning in favor of the Empire, and Imperial forces were able to regain much territory during the following century. The years 2902 to 3025 however turned the once liberal democratic Empire into an authoritarian regime. Every facet of Earthen life was dedicated to the war effort, with conscription having reached its all time high. Capable men and women between the ages of 15 and 45 were forced into military service with little to no pay. Most of the Empire's money was used to procure arms and ammunition from the ruling elites and their defense industries. Those incapable of military service were forced to work in those defense industries or on the fields on agricultural worlds to supply the military with. In January 3030 EarthCom High Command announced that the Empire was once again losing the war. This had been the first official admittance of defeat since the tide turned in the early thirtieth century. All frontier worlds were either lost to the Cybrans, the Aeon, rebels or were in complete disarray without any governing authority present. Only the Imperial core worlds, including the capital Earth, had a functioning government and well equipped defense force. At this time the Aeon and Cybrans were also increasingly becoming thinly stretched, and started worrying more about one another than the Earthlings. Their military advance toward the core worlds stopped, and they started focusing on one another. Theoretically this gave the Empire time to rebuild, however no such initiative proved viable. The Earth Empire stagnated and continued limping for decades. In February 3150, what later became known as the "Dark Time", began after EarthCom's High Command disestablished itself as a governing authority. Scheduled elections proved impractical as only citizens on the core worlds could vote with proper oversight. No Earthen Government existed, which led to what was known as the Earth Empire being unofficially dissolved. EarthCom essentially became an independent force which only operated on core worlds. It did however begin a massive project on the core worlds themselves to modernize the organization and win back the trust of the Eartheners living there. Conscription ended and many formerly human-driven duties were taken over by droids and computers, which made the military much more efficient. Around 3154, EarthCom embarked with large fleets from the core worlds to retake former colonies. Politics Being a confederation, the UEF is divided into thousands of autonomous member states, also known as "colonies" (with no official designation), with their own governments, structures and political systems. The central government of the Federation, known as the Earthen Government (shortened to "EarthGov"), fulfills only a small mandate. Residual authority and mandates accrue to the member states. The Federal Constitution sets out the structure and role of EarthGov, and regulates certain other matters relating to federal politics. EarthGov consists of two branches - the Chancellor and the Federal Senate. The Chancellor is the head of the federal executive and is mainly responsible for enforcing federal law and administering affairs of state on a day by day basis. The Federal Senate creates federal law and ensures executive accountability. Due to the size of the Federation, there are no direct popular elections. The post of Chancellor is filled by the head of state of a colony, rotated every three years among the Federation's fifty largest democratic colonies. The Federal Senate is unicameral and consists of one senator from every colony, who may not also be the head of state of that colony. Each colony may devise its own manner of choosing its federal senator. The Senate has a Judicial Committee which acts as the federal judiciary. The 19 members of the Committee are popularly elected by the Senate. .]] EarthCom is the federal military of the UEF, and is led by the Supreme Commander. Due to the size of the Federation and in turn the size of EarthCom, it is treated as an independent unit within EarthGov, and essentially "a state within a state". The Supreme Commander is chosen by the Senate's Armed Services Committee from among the general officers of the Federation's most militarily powerful colonies. The Chancellor does not play a role in military affairs, and the Supreme Commander does not play a role in civilian affairs. The Armed Services Committee has overriding authority in cases of civilian and military disputes. EarthCom is divided into four service commands, namely, the Ground Forces, the Fleet, Military Intelligence and the Space Marines. There are various kinds of colonies in the Federation, according to the Department of Colonial Affairs's Colony Register - *Regular Colony: Regular Colonies make up the bulk of the colonies of the UEF, and usually consist of one planetary body. These colonies have wide autonomous powers and are, essentially, independent states. Regular Colonies may have and organize their own defensive militaries. Offensive military action is reserved for EarthCom. **Regular Subcolony: Regular Subcolonies are those colonies that fall under the jurisdiction of the Regular Colonies. Many Regular Colonies have themselves developed to such an extent that they are able to colonize distant worlds themselves, or have been requested by small, weaker neighboring Regular Colonies to take over their affairs of state. Regular Subcolonies have no inherent autonomy, and rely upon the rights granted to them by their Regular Colonies. *Federal Territory: The Earthen Government itself controls a small amount of colonies directly. The planet Earth is the most notable example, however, many others do exist. **EarthCom Zone: Federation territory has various regions in space known as EarthCom Zones. These zones are under the direct military authority of the Supreme Commander and his general officers. The planets, both inhabited and uninhabited, are administered by EarthCom. The United Earth Federation, as of 3299, has 5,105 Regular Colonies throughout the galaxy. Culture and demographics Language The dominant and official federal language of the United Earth Federation is Hustan ('Hu'man 'Stan'dard). Colonies may choose their own official languages, although Hustan dominates among most of them (even if only in an official capacity). Hustan is the direct descendant of English (later known as American), which rapidly spread across Earth in the late 21st century. See Also *Timeline of events *Earth Empire Category:Universe (Super Warmonkey) Category:Nations Category:Countries